It certainly is when its HM Gov that are deciding to break their own rules.

You decide to do some free work for someone while you're on JSA - you're in court.

You want JSA ? HM Gov wants you to do some free work for it to keep "Outraged of Basildon" happy

Hypocrites.

Well I would argue that building say a new airport or hospital would create many on-going permanent jobs as against temporary very short term jobs of the sort a 2 week even like the Olympics can produce. The construction industry jobs for both projects are "real" enough and of equal benefit.

Or if the money had been invested in R&D it would IMO create more real jobs for long into the future.



Suggesting that you prefer to spend/waste (delete as appropriate) public funds on the Olympics rather than a War(s) is an odd sort of a point to try and justify this extravangance.

Good knowledge, the event is actually a total of 28 days.

I do understand people having concerns, though not at all the overriding negativity for some who are not at all enthusiastic about the biggest sports competition in the world coming to our country. Im going to stop caring too, it's terribly British to pull to pieces anything positive and those that the occasion passes by, it's a shame.

The Olympic torch came to our event today with the kids wide eyed and open mouthed to see and touch it, the inspiring torch barer gave a great talk too, power of the Olympic Games right there!

Do you think that construction jobs relating to the Olympic project have really lasted two weeks?

Can you remember the date we won the Olympic bid, the date construction projects began and the date the Olympics will finish?

A great many construction industry jobs have been created by the Olympics.


a bit like suggesting the money would be better spent/wasted on an airport. Where will you be putting this airport? Which companies will be flying out of it? Where will they be flying to? What will be the green impact?

Very many real jobs have been created as a result of the Olympic bids over several years. Much of the funding has come from corporate sponsorship and ticket sales, money that wouldn't have existed for your new fictional airport.

The Olympic village and other areas will also be developed into affordable housing, which is as im told very much needed in the area.

[urlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ouch/2012/06/news_round-up_the_inspirationa.html[/url
Between 18 May and 27 July, Eight thousand torchbearers, each nominated by someone they know as "truly inspirational", will each take their turn to carry the flame for part of the journey. And there's no shortage of disabled people getting involved.

This week, the BBC reported that the first torchbearer on Welsh soil was Gareth John MBE, chairman of Disability Sport Wales and that Mia Rathband, daughter to blinded police officer PC David Rathband, will take his place in the relay.



[urlhttp://www.london2012.com/torch-relay/torchbearers/torchbearers=allannah-mccready-116/[/url
My daughter Allannah 21 is an absolute inspiration. Born with a complex congenital condition & very poor prognosis she has battled the odds. She walked when she shouldn't have walked, talked when she shouldn't have and fought every step of the way to live her life to the full inspiring us to do the same. As one example, when we signed up to be permanent foster carers she underwent training so she could fully support us to care for the two new additions to our family. She has worked continuously now returning to college to study social care in order to support other young adults with disabilities because she understands the challenges they face and wants to support them. Allannah is a successful member of a local disability swimming club winning 4 gold medals at the national championships. She wanted to give something back so underwent training earlier this year to coach young disabled swimmers.



[urlhttp://www.london2012.com/torch-relay/torchbearers/spotlight=courtney-limb/index.html[/urlCourtney Limb, 14, from Lincoln was selected through the Coca-Cola Future Flames programme and will carry the Flame through Bracebridge Heath.

Courtney has Type 1 Diabetes but this does not stop her fulfilling her passion of all sports. Her dream is to represent England Ladies and is currently an elite player for Lincoln Ladies Centre of Excellence.

[urlhttp://www.london2012.com/torch-relay/torchbearers/torchbearers=eric-cooper-874/index.html[/url
Eric is 86 years of age and registered blind. He is a war veteran; he has 1 daughter and 2 grandchildren. He was registered blind in 1987 and is truly an inspiration to all who meet him. He for a number of years has tirelessly fundraised for a number of charities. For the last 4 years he has run in the Sheffield Fun Run for Sheffield Royal Society for the Blind and on the 15th May he did a 160 metre zip slide for the charity. He wears an army uniform from his regiment or all the events and when he ran into Don Valley Stadium to finish the fun run this year everyone stood and applauded him. There have been 6 press release and 2 radio interviews on him over the last month. He is an amazing and well loved guy whose phrase is if 'You rest you rust'


There are eight thousand other "media bull inspired non events". I'd invite all the cynics and miserable old gits to spend some time reading them.

The torch bearer at our schools event today talked about the charity he set up building schools in Africa, they now have 900 African children accessing free school where they didn't before, inspirational guy.

Did you walk away thinking it was a "non event" created by "media bullting"?

Absolutely, I though that just as i wiped a tear away.

...I was also holding the torch at the time, while I remarked how similar to a cheese grater It feels to touch!

Typical ted response = NO.

<Joseph Goebbels likes this!>

Typical broken record- sounds like this.

<all boring a holes like this!>

If you want tear-jerking stories to shamelessly plug a commercial event let me introduce you to some of the people at Wheatfields Hospice, a place that me and some of the lads do a tiny bit of fund raising for every year in the name of one of our mates who died there - maybe we could talk to some of the highly specialised professionals who work for Sue Ryder and who depend entirely on charity to pay their wages.

1% of £10bn would go a long way to those people.

...and I'm sure the guy who started sending pencils out to schoolchildren in Africa many years ago and now heads a charity that supports several complete schools, did it all because he thought that one day he'd be given a torch and told to trot 300 metres with it.

When you've finished weeping over the torch event come and see me Gareth, I've got loads of useless tat in my garage that I'd like to flog to you, you sound like just the sort of gullible sap I'm looking for.

Really, because that's what i implied didn't I? Well done for not being able to grasp the point, hundreds of thousands of children have been preparing for the Olympic and Paralympic games for the last two years by taking part in various projects and events based around the games and the Values. Schools have redeveloped their entire school ethos around the values of Respect, Excellence, Friendship, Determination, Inspiration, Courage and Equality instiling these values and engaging them through sport. The inspiring Torch Bearers display
the qualities in their achievements and therefore inspire others, especially children.
Apart from that, who the **** are you to say other people are gullible, when you've been nowhere near these events and seen the difference they're having.

Your belittling way of putting things too is also a nice touch.

Just one question Seth,

How the hell did you inspire children to display Respect, Excellence, Friendship, Determination, Inspiration, Courage and Equality before HM Gov committed £10 billion of public funding to the IOC ?

I have every empathy with the carers and patients, having had close people to me pass away in there care and I'm sure funding would help them as with all charities. I'm not sure I picture the carers echoing your feelings quite the same way.

Are you saying that no country should hold the Olympics because they cost too much and all countries are immoral?

Sounds a bit like my mum when I left food on the plate, "there's starving kids in Africa!" irrelevant mum, you weren't going to send it there anyway!

Exactly, they weren't and kids just ran riot.

....Bloody hell!!! I knew that's what youd put!

Good god, as you can't seem to read even a little between the lines, look I've been in school sport for the last 12 years and nothing has had the impact of the Games. Starting slowley a number of years ago and really gaining momentum in the last 2+ it has been immense. The magnitude of such an event could not be replaced, and it's intended to go on in future with a retrospective view and looking at the coming host nations. If you don't get it you don't, but then it's not your industry and you've not seen the impact on others like I have day after day.

So how often should we host The Olympic Games to stop kids running riot, how long will the feel good factor last for, how many years worth of good mannered kids full of Respect, Excellence, Friendship, Determination, Inspiration, Courage and Equality does £10b buy you.

I reckon we'll be needing to bid for the 2024 Games at least, best start saving up now.

I really don't know, but i agree entirely that it shouldn't be here for another 50+ years, and it won't, it's a 'one off' (pedants stay away) and we should all get behind it. I can appreciate the concerns of the budget, which I read is closer 8.4bn now, but move on.

What I do know is the impact we're having right now. The School Games (a national programme) is planned to continue long into the future, with current school projects being continued and developed for new school years. I don't mean it in a condescending way but I do wish people could see the activity and excitement that I have, and this is being replicated accross the country.

With all due respect Seth, you could do your work so much better with more money, you started several pages back by admitting that your original budget from a few years ago had been reduced and you are now working on a fraction of what you used to have.

Lets put this in terms of here and now - if a Government Minister was charged with the job of reducing his departments budget today by whatever he could find and he came back with a £10bn saving (or £8bn if you wish) then that Minister would earn themselves a life peerage and a gold plated pension.

On the other hand if a Sports Minister presented a plan to the Cabinet tomorrow for an international sporting event to be held in this country that would inspire schoolkids and boost tourism, but we need £10bn pledging from existing budgets, then he would be laughed out of the room because if David Cameron committed himself to that level of spending on sports right now he'd be crucified, literally.

I know what can be achieved with kids and sport, I've been involved with u8s to u12s in a RU club to see what can be achieved with limited funding but lots of enthusiasm and in that club I see full teams in all age groups from 8 to 17 (bar one year) from a small catchment area, I also see other RU clubs with much more funding, West Park, Sandal, and I see what they can do with money and how many more kids they attract and put to good work on a Sunday morning and mid-week evening, it doesn't take much to inspire kids with sport but it does take money.

And we, the taxpayer, have spent a lot of money for this event, a hell of a lot of money, and we didn't do it just to inspire kids or run around the country with a flame on a stick.

And with all due respect we've been through it all a million times, we've had the uncertainty of funding and our lively hoods, we still do, but we're very resourceful driven people, think that's what sport gives you. We, the people
who are in the middle of it all do not resent the games or equate the budget to money we could have, where does that kind of thinking end?

Another key point is that we are also engaging non/less sporty children in sport who love being 'part of the Games' in many other ways than competing.

I don't get why you need to use belittling terms like 'flame on a stick' seems a child like way to force a point. I don't believe it's just about inspiring kids, but what a great benefit that's been, reaching a huge % of the population.

Seth - I share your passion for school sport. I'm also a huge fan of the Olympics and think the positive legacy it will have will outweigh the cost, which when broken down over time as Gareth alluded to earlier is a much smaller figure per taxpayer than it originally sounds.

However, I'm not sure how school sport should be improved by the Olympics. It's given people a reason to actually take an interest however it's a disgrace that the structure of sport (especially competitions) in school was ever allowed to deteriorate to the extent it has.

Until schools, and especially Primary Schools employ teachers who have an interest in, and a committment to providing sporting opportunities no Olympic Games will make a difference. I currently run cricket, rugby, athletics and football clubs throughout the year and support rounders and netball. This is usually one night a week and often a couple of lunchtimes. We have reached regional finals for football and netball, city finals for athletics and West Yorkshire finals for netball. Add to that a Spirit Alive event, sports days, Euro 2012 football tournament and a bit of teaching along the way and I am literally burnt out. I'm lucky that 2/3 colleagues help out with sports events and my head usually agrees for us to attend. I do this for no extra incentives, other than the fact I love both sport, and seeing the kids achieve and enjoy events outside of the usual 9-3 grind. There are other schools in our cluster who regularly don't turn up, even for a simple football tournament. They prioritise differently and don't for example allow year 6 out of class between Christmas and SATs. Without getting into a debate about education, our school achieve good results and I believe one of the main reasons are that while we have high expectations for work we provide an enriched curriculum with a variety of extra curricular opportunites.

The Olympics, has left me with a couple of extra events to co-ordinate such as the torch ceremony and a family of schools Olympic competition for 40 kids which was superb. Other than that we'd have done everything we do anyway, and the schools who don't do much still haven't done much. These events need organising with or without the Olympic Games being in London.

Having said all that, I can't wait for the Games - am still gutted I didn't get tickets

Will that national programme of school games be enough to counteract the surge in schoolchildren getting fatter than ever after they've consumed even more McDonalds and Cadbury's Chocolate all guzzled down with Coca Cola, courtesy of the legacy left by the very same Olympic sponsors?

Seriously, that's your contribution?!